Cheswolde's Charms – a Baltimore Neighborhood

In many ways, Cheswolde is a typical Baltimore neighborhood. Located in the northwest part of Baltimore City. Cheswolde is a mixture of single-family detached homes and garden apartments, most built in the mid-20th century.

Even so, the history of Cheswolde goes back to the early 1800's when land north of Western Run (a small river) was owned by Charles Carroll of Carrollton, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. A house said to have been Carroll's hunting lodge still stands at the northwest corner of Greenspring Avenue and Cross Country Boulevard.  In the first half of the 19th Century a grist mill operated near there on the Western Run. Later it was converted to snuff mill and operated until damaged by a flood in 1868.

Western Run is still an important part of the Cheswolde neighborhood. Each spring, volunteers gather for a stream clean-up; this year's spring cleaning will take place Sunday, April 13. (Interested in helping? Email mailto:email%20bkaminetz@chaibaltimore.org.)

By 1915, acreage called Cheswolde Farms had been laid out and subdivided. Cheswolde was annexed to Baltimore City in 1918, but there was little growth until the 1940's when active building began that extended through the 1960's. The remaining open land in this neighborhood of hills will remain undeveloped as it lies in the Western Run floodplain.

As late as the 1950's, an airfield and flight school operated in the northwest corner of the Cheswolde community. But in recent years, that 250 acre land parcel has been developed as townhouses, garden apartments and condominiums.

The charms of Cheswolde are indeed easy to see. Part of zip code 21209, this neighborhood has the wonderful look and feel of a settled community with mature trees and flower-filled gardens.

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